A vehicle is a mechanism designed to transport people or loads. A common example of a vehicle is an automobile. Vehicles are typically provided with sensors and devices that provide functions to enhance safety and convenience of a driver and passengers. Functions of a vehicle are often categorized into convenience functions that enhance a driver's convenience, safety functions that enhance safety of a driver inside the vehicle and/or pedestrians outside the vehicle, and environment-friendly functions that protect the environment.
Convenience functions include infotainment functions in a vehicle, autonomous driving functions, or functions that assist a driver's visual perception via night vision or a blind spot view. Specific examples of convenience functions include an active cruise control (ACC), a smart parking assist system (SPAS), a night vision (NV), a head up display (HUD), an around view monitor (AVM), an adaptive headlight system (AHS), etc.
Safety functions are typically designed to enhance safety of a driver and/or pedestrians, and examples include a lane departure warning system (LDWS), a lane keeping assist system (LKAS), an autonomous emergency braking (AEB), etc.
Environment-friendly functions include as examples functions that enhance fuel efficiency of a car, functions that reduce emission of carbon dioxide, etc.
In an era of high oil prices, fuel efficiency is often regarded as an important performance index for a vehicle. Fuel efficiency is typically measured as a ratio of a distance traveled per unit of fuel consumed, for example measured in a unit of ‘km/liter’ indicating a distance a vehicle can travel with one liter of fuel.